British Tokens, Tickets and Passes

Theatre and Entertainment, HAYMARKET, Her Majesty’s Theatre, octagonal ivory, Opera 1838, back named (Duchess of Cleveland, Box 57 1/2, 5), 33mm, 3.60g (W 331, this piece; Young, Theatres & Circus, p.73, this piece; D & W 29/321). Very fine and very rare; pierced for suspension £300-£500

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, Tickets and Passes of London from the David Young Collection.

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Provenance: Gift of A.H.F. Baldwin 1970.

Elizabeth Russell, Duchess of Cleveland (1777-1861), second wife of William Henry Vane, 1st Duke of Cleveland, KG (1766-1842), himself a direct descendant of Charles II by his mistress Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland. Her husband, who was the Lord-Lieutenant of co Durham, had the dubious reputation of being a slave trader in Barbados, who was ‘compensated’ for the loss of 233 slaves to the amount of £4,854 in 1837. Her marriage to Henry Vane, at Vane’s house, 31 St James’s square, London, on 27 July 1813, was said by Debrett’s to ‘outrage polite society’ The daughter of a market gardener from Burneston, N Yorkshire, Elizabeth made a dubious reputation for herself by being the previous mistress of Vane and, before that, of the aged banker Thomas Coutts (1735-1822).

Please note ivory is covered by CITES legislation and may be subject to import/export and trade restrictions